Oklahoma Highlights

Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States and in Oklahoma. To address this enormous toll, the American Lung Association calls for the following actions to be taken by Oklahoma’s elected officials:

Unfortunately, 2024 was a missed opportunity for Oklahoma lawmakers to improve state laws around tobacco products. Multiple bills to address tobacco retailers failed to move through the legislative process. House Bill 3331, by Representative Cynthia Roe and Senator Jo Anna Dossett, would have improved the state’s tobacco retailer licensing laws to apply financial penalties to tobacco retail store owners in the case of sales to underage individuals. Without the law’s passage, fines remain limited to store clerks and lack the teeth needed to ensure compliance with all state laws.

Other bills that failed to make it across the finish line included bills to prohibit smoking in a vehicle with a minor under age 13 and a bill to move authority from the ABLE Commission to the Attorney General’s office for the state’s nicotine product registry. No bills were filed on proven tobacco use reduction policies like a statewide indoor smoking law or restricting the sales of flavored tobacco products.

Fortunately, there were no bills that would have negatively impacted the state’s tobacco control programs through the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET). Thanks to TSET’s independent funding, Oklahoma continues to be among the leaders in the nation in funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs.

The American Lung Association continues to build partnerships across the state, uniting those in tobacco control through the Oklahoma Tobacco Control Alliance, which local Lung Association staff chair. In the fall of 2024, nearly 50 members of the alliance gathered for the annual retreat to discuss how to comprehensively reduce tobacco use across the state. Thanks to investments from both the state Department of Health and TSET, multiple public awareness campaigns were launched across the state, including a focus on the tobacco industry’s deception marketing practices, menthol tobacco products, rural tobacco use and mental health and tobacco.

The American Lung Association calls on lawmakers to continue their work by focusing penalties on those who sell tobacco and e-cigarette products. There remains no required permit to sell addictive e-cigarette products and the state’s nicotine product registry is rife with inaccuracies. To ensure all Oklahomans have access to comprehensive proven tobacco control programs, the state must stay vigilant in protecting the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, a key factor in the state’s above average tobacco control funding. Additionally, secondhand smoke remains a concern for the health of all Oklahomans, and the Lung Association encourages the state to remove its local preemption laws and support a statewide smokefree indoor air law.